Hello, all! Where is the time going? It feels like the holidays were yesterday. Life has been a bit of a rollercoaster since my last post, which is why I’ve been absent for awhile. Just when I think life is calming, something pops up. May is my birthday month, and even though I didn’t do much on the day, it was nice. All that being said, I have finally established a schedule for posts as well as something new, which will be discussed further below. I also have some spring-inspired favorites that I found at The Ecology Center during our visit in March.

While we were on our way back from a trip to Mexico (more on that in a future post), we stopped at The Ecology Center. The Ecology Center is a “… Regenerative Organic Certified™ farm and education center”. There is a cafe, shop, and there are events throughout the year. The reviews are mixed, but since this was our first visit, we can only speak to our own experience. The staff was wonderful, and there was a nice variety of things to see. We wished we had more time to see everything. We were able to see most of the grounds, the store, and peek at the U-Pick strawberry field. People were making tortillas that smelled amazing! The store was pricey, so we didn’t get nearly as much as we would have liked to. We bought a variety of mushrooms, tangerines, radishes, and a few other items, mostly from local makers. So far, everything we have tried has been great. The mushrooms were added to a pasta dish, the radishes were amazing in salads and on their own, and we snacked on tangerines…they didn’t last long. Monty’s vegan cream cheese is good, but hard to find near me, so I bought two plus their butter (in my opinion, the butter wasn’t anything special). One of the best things I tried was the kombucha from LXR lab. The strawberry one was my favorite, and it was sweeter (much less vinegary) than most. I also got a kombucha from Fermensch Kombucha, which was tasty. Yuzu is my favorite from them. Both brands are on my Top 5 list. One disappointing thing is that much of the produce came from other farms, which, based on the reviews from previous patrons, was not always the case.

In the new year, I have been getting my “ducks in a row”. Speaking of ducks, I’ve been decorating them–the rubber kind, and love it! You can create your own patterns or go with whatever the duck has. There are endless options for crystals/accessories, which means your duck can have its own flair. Yes, they are plastic, as are the accessories and gems, which is contradictory to my low-waste lifestyle. In the beginning, I was conflicted, but also realized that (1) The items are already made and me not purchasing them won’t affect the manufacturing, (2) I shouldn’t feel guilty for having a hobby that involves plastic, and (3) This is something I genuinely love to do. Each small duck takes approximately 4-5 hours to complete, and larger ones take at least 6-7 hours. My goal is to have a storefront where signed decorative ducks will be available on a limited basis.

In other news, I started streaming on Twitch and am uploading the previous broadcasts to YouTube! I haven’t done anything outside of no-talking gameplay (WoW, FFXIV, Palia, TS4, and a few others), but I plan to branch out into other content. The current Twitch drop that my WoW stream will count towards is Beetriz. You have until March 20th at 10:00am PDT to get her.

You can play the stream as background noise while you’re cooking, cleaning, etc. Or, since it will be the in-game sounds, you can mute the stream and just let it run. You need to watch 4 hours of a livestream to receive the pet. I typically start every stream at 10:00pm PST. My livestream schedule can be found here. My character can normally be found hunting, gathering, and participating in arcade activities in the different games. If you like gaming content, need watch time for drops, or just need some background noise, feel free to join me! At some point, I will get a mic set up, but I’m not sure when that will happen. You can also join me on Discord (Darphynia’s Disco)!

That’s all for now. Thank you so much for being here! I hope you are having a wonderful 2025.

Peace & Love, always!